TASTE OF THE ’BURG: Alberto Baudo, the restaurateur behind Peck Slip’s Acqua, bought an apartment in Williamsburg’s the Edge and recently opened an Italian spot, Fabbrica, in a retail space at the development. (Christian Johnson)
Baudo’s, Italian spot, Fabbrica (above), which is in a retail space at the development. (Christian Johnson)
WYTHE NOT?: The Wythe Hotel is a draw (Adrian Gaut)
Williamsburg transplant Sue Zales is a trailblazer.
“In a way, we’re pioneers,” says Zales, who with her husband, Tom Epstein, moved into a three-bedroom (which she converted into a big two-bedroom) at Williamsburg’s sold-out Edge condo complex in November.
How, you might ask? She’s not from the set that sports body art and piercings. Her husband has a mustache, but it’s connected to a well-groomed, conservative goatee. They’re not even of the new wave of parents who decided to raise their kids in Williamsburg — that wave was a good eight or nine years ago.
“We’re pioneers in our demographic,” Zales explains. She’s 53.
And she had never lived in Williamsburg before. She had been living happily in Manhattan in the 50s, off Second Avenue, near longtime friends. “But more and more, there are people like ourselves who see the beauty of moving out of Manhattan.” And, specifically, to thriving Williamsburg.
One of Zales and Epstein’s neighbors, for instance, is Alberto Baudo, a restaurateur in his mid-50s, who bought a two-bedroom in the Edge more than two years ago, and then went so far as to open up a restaurant, Fabbrica, in the building’s first-floor retail space.
“After 15 years of living in lower Manhattan, I needed to see the sky, the sun rise, something other than other buildings around me,” Baudo says. “Plus, Williamsburg is the most interesting, most vital, most energetic neighborhood. It gives me the energy of SoHo 20 years ago — now SoHo is more like a mall. There are no more independent stores. Instead, in Williamsburg, they open a restaurant every two weeks.”
But convincing this demographic to make the move to Williamsburg wasn’t necessarily easy. “My husband has wanted to live here for about four years,” Zales says. “He’s been working on me.”
Zales and Epstein already owned a one-bedroom rental property in the Edge before purchasing for themselves, and everything from transportation to Manhattan to the absence of their friends was in the back of their minds.
“Since we moved here, I’ve actually met some people in my demographic,” Zales says. “We have two dogs — and we’ve mostly met these people outside, in the back [of the Edge] by the water. It’s nice to know there are some of us over here.” (In a weird inversion of roles, Zales’ 22-year-old stepdaughter lives in Tudor City.)
Highlyann Krasnow, a partner at MNS, which sold the Edge, estimates that the number of sales to people over 50 is in the “5 to 7 percent” range. But it should be noted that there are 565 units in the complex. And the interest is growing.
“I don’t know if the neighborhood is changing to accommodate the 50-plus set,” says broker Sarah Burke of Douglas Elliman, but “for the past two years, the overall demographic has really varied. You had this perception [of Williamsburg], but the hipsters got older, had babies, and now the 50s and 60s are coming here. I had clients who sold their house in Westchester, and wanted to be close to their 20-something kids.”
One of the reasons the buyer and renter pool is maturing is because casually employed 20-somethings without trust funds can no longer afford Williamsburg.
“Prices are actually escalating by the day,” says new Williamsburg buyer Peter Sereny, 69, who just closed last week on a three-bedroom condo at Schaefer Landing. “People bid over asking price. Inventory is practically nonexistent. There are just a handful of condos to be had.”
“The market is really in a frenzy right now,” says Rolan Sereny — Peter’s son — who opened the Williamsburg office of the new Brick and Mortar Realty four weeks ago (and who helped his father — who is a partner in Brick and Mortar, as well as a doctor — find his apartment). “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen bidding wars — but I’ve seen a few right now.”
Rolan recently had a client put in an offer for a 2,086-square-foot three-bedroom at 57 N. First St., and saw another buyer swoop in with a better offer. Rolan’s client had to come up to the $2.2 million asking price before he got the unit. Buildings along the water have rocketed above $1,000 per square foot in some cases.
A few weeks ago, Propertyshark.com published a map of price changes in Brooklyn neighborhoods from 2004 to 2012, and found that on a price- per-square-foot basis, Williamsburg condos had shot up a staggering 174 percent.
“After 2008, everyone was saying Williamsburg was overbuilt and values are going to plummet, but it’s quite the opposite,” says Stephen Kliegerman, president of Halstead Property Development Marketing, which is unveiling a luxury rental, 373 Wythe, in May. “Inventory has basically all absorbed and prices increased.”
“It’s really hard to find anything,” says Dave Maundrell, president of aptsandlofts.com. “And there are not as many buildings opening in the spring as in the past — so pricing should hold at least.”
“There was another place that I looked at that I was trying to bargain with,” Sereny says. “The difference was $15,000 — it was a good example of what’s going on. I stood my ground, [but the asking price was] $1.25 million, and the owners wouldn’t move down $15,000.”
Sereny adds, “They were right — ’cause they could get their asking price. It’s almost impossible to bargain.”
And aside from prices suited to a more well-heeled set, Williamsburg has matured in what it offers its residents. “The neighborhood is starting to get more amenities, more movie theaters, more shopping, more Manhattan-type things,” Krasnow says.
In 2011, the Nitehawk Cinema, which shows movies and serves food, opened. And more recently, the Williamsburg Cinema was unveiled. Plus, the opening of the Wythe Hotel and the King and Grove hotel last year added a splash of entertainment and sophistication.
And the buildings that much of the 50-plus set have been buying in are perk-filled in the first place — many boast gyms, screening rooms and party rooms. The Edge has a swimming pool and a basketball court.
After decades spent living in Manhattan, what do Zales’ Manhattan friends make of Brooklyn?
Friends have started coming out to Williamsburg even when Zales and Epstein aren’t around. One night, over dinner in Williamsburg when Zales was absent, the talk around the table was about moving to Brooklyn.
“I have some friends who live on Central Park West in a beautiful apartment,” Zales says, “When they came out to visit us, the husband looked at me and said, ‘I could live here.’ I thought that was a huge compliment.”